Craps Ideas

Website Monetization Programs [ADSENSE ALTERNATIVES]

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Sat, 9 Jan 2010 14:17:00 +0530

Have you been banned by Google adsense or are you just looking for more ways to enhance your ad portfolio and make more money from your websites?

If your answer is yes to any of the questions, then this site has been made just for you.

OnlineHarMONEY is an updated list of the best website monetization programs that are available to webmasters.

We have the best list of CPC, CPM, affiliates, Paid Blogging programs and more.

We hope that this list will be of much use to webmaster who want to earn beyond Google adsense.

The best Adsense Alternatives and Make Money Online programs for website publishers.

Contextual Ads:

* Bidvertiser: Display the BidVertiser text ads on your website or blog, get paid for every click and have the payments sent directly to your PayPal account. However, the ad pool seems a little limited. Rating 4/5

* Clicksor: One has many ad options [text, image and animated ads] and payment is made via Paypal. However, they do have some joining restrictions with a 5,000 page views per day or 150000 page views per month requirement. Rating 4/5

* Yahoo YPN: The best adsense alternative, but is open only for US publishers. Rating 4/5

Ad Widgets:

* Chitika: The creator of the very popular eMini Malls, Chitika was the first true alternative to Google adsense. Until recently they only featured shopping product widgets, but have now also added non shopping ads to their portfolio with the introduction of Chitika Premium. Rating 5/5

* Widget Bucks: WidgetBucks features pay-per-click shopping widgets . They instantly display the most popular products based on buying trends of 100 million shoppers. Thus they are highly engaging, which means instant dollars for website publishers. They pay both on CPC and CPM basis on the same widget. Rating 4/5

* Shopping Ads: Features popular products in it’s ad widget and pays on CPA basis. You get paid a certain percentage every time someone clicks on the ad widget and makes a purchase. Publishers with heavy U.S. traffic can be paid on CPM basis. Rating 3/5

CPM Networks:

* Value Click Media: One of the best eCPM network with the highest payouts. Ratings 5/5

* Voxant Newsroom: One of the most productive CPM ad network I have participated in. One can earn upto $ 0.70 eCPM by displaying their image, text or video content. No joining restriction, publishers payed by Paypal or check. Only U.S. traffic taken into consideration. High rating for ease of joining. Rating 4/5

* Tribal Fusion: One of the top eCPM advertising network with good payouts. However, only sites with a minimum of 2000 unique hits per day can apply. Rating 4.5/5

Paid Blogging:

* Pay Per Post: A paid blogging network that pays for reviewing an advertiser’s products and services. One can earn an average of $ 10 for each paid review. $20 for the first opportunity after signup. A publisher’s blog needs to be at least one month old. Rating 4/5

* Sponsored Reviews: An online marketplace where publishers can bid for writing a review for an opportunity. Great transparency and 65% payouts. Rating 5/5

* Review Me: A marketplace much suited for bigger blogger, however, opportunity available for smaller bloggers too. Rating 3/5

Affiliate Networks:

* Click Bank: Largest affiliate marketplace for digital products. Affiliate share as high as 75% on products. Rating 5/5

Text Link Brokers:

* Text Link Ads: The largest text link brokers. Sell simple, relevant text ads on your website. Works best for PR 4 and above sites and blogs. Rating 4/5

Other Advertising Networks:

* Adversal: Popup advertising network paying upto $ 1.20 eCPM

* CPMStar: Online advertising network devoted to gamers. Works best on entertainment niche sites like videos, photos and other themes. Rating 5/5

How to Re-Activate your google Adsense account, after being banned?

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:21:00 +0530

I was reading a very interesting post at digitalpoint forum where a gentlemen involved in invalid click activity and his adsense account was banned like many others. I could understand the way he felt because almost every adsense newbie is inclined towards self clicking or invalid clicking initially, due to lack of awareness.

Do keep in mind that Google is smart enough to track down the illegal activities of your adsense account and sooner of later such accounts get banned. Google adsense uses multiple algorithms to detect click fraud and consequently ban an account.

Case 1: When you are guilty

If you really did the click fraud and your adsense account got banned, then there is absolutely no hope that you will get your Google adsense account back. So, all you need to do is to apply for a new one with changed address, IP, and payee name and restart your adsense career. You can use your relative’s name/address which you can change it later.

Case 2: When you are not guilty

When you are confident that you haven’t done anything wrong against Terms and Conditions of Google Adsense, then you have a fair chance of getting back your Google Adsense account by following these steps without being panic.

Step 1- Gather all the facts

If you can collect all the information which can help you defend your case with google. You need to know if a friend, family member, or employee (i.e. someone under your control) clicked your ads. Did you ask someone to click? Did you click by accident? Gather the facts, even if they reveal actual invalid clicks.

Step 2- Fill out the Appeal Form

There is a simple form to fill out to appeal this decision. Be honest, truthful, and tell Google what happened. If you have no knowledge of invalid clicks, say that. If someone accidentally clicked, explain that. If a visitor maliciously clicked repeatedly, tell Google the story. You’ve got nothing to lose at this point.

Step 3-Be Patient

When you fill out this form it says it’s going to take 48 hours to process your appeal. But it may take longer than expected, so keep yourself cool and be mentally prepared for it.

Step 4- If you are successful, Celebrate it

If you put up your case well with google, then there is a good chance that you might succeed in reinstating your Google Adsense Account. So, celebrate your success! It will take Google up to 48 hours to start displaying ads again, so be patient. You might lose a week of earnings, but that’s nothing in the long run.

Step 5- Re-Appeal and Re-Re-Appeal

If you don’t get any response from Google Adsense within a week which means your account is still banned, then appeal again. Be polite, professional, and honest. Dig back through your information and see if you missed something that might be important.

Easy Ways to Increase Google AdSense Earnings

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:19:00 +0530

There are some easy ways for individuals to increase their Google AdSense earnings.

Google AdSense allows individuals to place targeted ads on their web sites. It’s extremely easy, as all individuals have to do is apply for an account in order to get started with using their online revenue program. However, some individuals aren’t so happy with their earnings. Instead of getting discouraged, it’s best for individuals to research tools on easy ways to increase Google AdSense earnings.

Easy Ways to Increase Google AdSense Earnings

Google AdSense is just a tool for individuals to earn extra money online. The word extra means a lot, as it’s best not to plan on retiring with Google AdSense earnings. Though it is possible for individuals to make the best of their earnings by taking some steps to increase their online revenue.

Topics That Generate the Most Google AdSense Ads

The average click on Google AdSense may earn individuals 15 cents, therefore it’s best to try to aim for getting viewers to click those ads. This means thinking outside the box. It’s suggested that individuals try and put themselves in the researcher’s shoes, by thinking of what individuals might be searching on a day to day basis. It’s also best to pick a popular topic that covers a wide range of online viewers.

Generate Traffic to a Website to Increase Google AdSense Revenue

Another way for individuals to increase their online earnings is to send out weekly or monthly newsletters (emails) that link to their web sites. This can be a great way to generate traffic to a website, which may lead to individuals wanting to click on the surrounding Google ads.

Research a List of Keywords in Order to Earn More Google AdSense Clicks

Keywords can be key to increasing Google AdSense earnings. Individuals should use the online Google Keyword Tool site in order to search for higher paying keywords. Not all keywords are created equal. Many pay much higher than the average and taking the time to research keywords can really help an individual increase their online revenue

How to Increase Google AdSense Earnings in Just a Few Easy Steps

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:17:00 +0530

For anyone who owns a web site, adding Google AdSense can help them to earn extra money online. The program is extremely easy to use, as all you have to do is apply, add some simple codes to your web site and Google AdSense will start generating ads to your website, which will earn you extra money online easily. However, the amount of money you earn will depend on the steps you take in order to increase your earnings through Google AdSense.

Step 1 Easy Ways to Increase Your Google AdSense Earnings:

First off, it’s important to write about products and topics that apply to a wide range of viewers. The more popular your information is on your website, the more likely viewers will be to click on the ads surrounding the topics.

Step 2 Increase Your Google AdSense Revenue Earnings:

Take time to research the payout on your keywords. Not all keywords are created equal. Each set of words pay different amounts and these amounts can range from .05 cents to 50 dollars per every few clicks. This is obviously a huge difference and a very important step to increasing your earnings with Google AdSense.

Step 3 How to Increase Google AdSense Earnings:

Spread the word. Each time you add something new and interesting to your website, send emails to your friends, family and co-workers that link to your website. You can also ask them to forward the emails to their friends etc.. This can get the word out and more people will be apt to clicking the Google AdSense ads, which leads to you increasing your Google AdSense earnings.

Advice On How To Increase Your Google Adsense Earnings

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:16:00 +0530

In this article I give advice about ways in which you can increase the amount you earn from Google adsense. I run adsense on a number of my sites and it is proving to be a very good form of second income. Many other people are now putting the code onto their own sites which can help them to pay for hosting and domain renewal costs.

Should you run adsense on your website?

In my opinion there are many positive reasons to have these google ads on your website but there are also reasons why you may not want them on there. On the positive side you are of course likely to earn money when people click on one of the ads, this can be a useful income, however unless you have either a high traffic site or a large number of sites, you are unlikely to get rich from it.

On the negative side when people click on one of the ads it is actually taking away that visitor from your site. If you are offering a service it therefore probably is not worth signing up for adsense for that site. If the site is purely for information purposes I would say that it is worth adding the code.

How to increase your adsense earnings

There are many ways in which you can blend the adverts into your website by choosing a particular colour for the ads as an example. Placement of the ads is also quite important and there is information on the Google site which advises where to put the adverts for maximum impact.

I believe the best way to increase your earnings however is to get more traffic to the website. There are many ways of doing this:

Google adwords

You can create an advertising campaign using google adwords. You could opt to pay near enough the minimum fee per click and this will keep the costs down. People will then visit your site and hopefully click on one of the other ads, therefore making you money.

This can work very well for certain subjects, but not so well for others. It is a matter of trial and error, I always run the adwords for around a month and then evaluate if it is worth carrying on after that point.

It is obviously important that we do not spend more on our own advertising, than we are likely to earn.

Purchase a text link ad

This is becoming more and more popular as one way backward links are becoming ever more powerful in the eyes of the search engines. These type of links are however quite hard to come by.

By purchasing a text link advert you are likely to have an increase in web traffic from two avenues. Firstly from the advert itself and also from the page rank value of the backward link.

At articles-submission.com you are able to purchase nine of these permanent backward links for only £50, which includes a link on a page rank five page.

Writing articles

Writing articles can also help you to obtain more visitors to your site. The people who read the article are potential visitors, you also obtain a one way backward link from the article directory which you submit the article to, and other webmasters may also include the article on their own site, thus creating another one way backward link. These backward links help to increase your overall page rank. The higher the page rank, the more traffic you should receive.

Link exchange

Exchanging links with other websites which are hopefully in the same business sector as your own, also has value. These links are not as powerful as the one way links mentioned above but are still worth seeking.

You can e-mail or phone other webmasters to ask if they would be happy to swap links with your site.

Build a site network

If you have the time and available funds you could also consider building a network of sites, all on the same theme. Each of the sites in the network would have a link pointing to the main site. They could also have adsense on the sites thus increasing your earnings in a two-fold manner.

I hope this article helps you in your quest to increase your adsense earnings.

Stephen Hill helps to promote a number of websites including:

Stuttering

Stutter

Stuttering cure

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Hill

15 Effective Tips to Increase Google Adsense CTR

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0530

HOW TO INCREASE GOOGLE ADSENSE CTR?

Post Adsense ads them on text rich pages and make sure that Adsense had a bunch of keywords to work with. Getting Higher paying keywords is better of course.

Get rid of public service ads, which pay you nothing for your efforts. Here are some ways to avoid getting PSA’s.

Avoid titles like the approved ‘Sponsored Links’ and ‘Advertisements’ above the Adsense ads. Why do you want to tell the world they are ads when google already puts ‘Ads by Gooooogle’ with them. These two terms are the only ones allowed by Google TOS. Any other terms will get your account terminated. Remember to avoid these 15 Adsense mistakes.

Use section targeting – you can target an ad unit to a specific section of your blog, as well as block out irrelevant sections like navigational links. Useful to get more targeted ads.

WHAT IS THE BEST GOOGLE ADSENSE PLACEMENT FOR CTR?

Place Ads above the fold, i.e. you dont have to scroll down to see the ads. Moreover it loads before your entire page does. The more the visibility, the more chances a reader will click the ad.

Provide some free space around ads so that they stand out and users know where to find them. Dont clutter up the ads inside your content.

Experiment by changing the location of advertisements. Track them by channels to see which location works. Sometimes unusual locations can can do wonders for your CTR. Google Adsense support provides some good ideas for better blending

Many experienced Adsense users have reported better CTR with vertical ads rather than the horizontal ones. But that really depends on your site structure.

Usually it is recommended to place towers on your right, as users tend to use the mouse to scroll the bar on the right side wiht a higher chance to see your ads. Some have reported doubling CTR’s by placing towers to the left rather than the right, as people have got bored of seeing ads on the right, it has something to do with the sidedness of the brain which I do not understand and there is a tendency to read from left to the right.

Many sites will have small ads in the top right hand corner, as they claim it is the first place where the eye sees.

An excellent article on Eyetracking – What We Saw When We Looked Through Their Eyes helps to tell you where users actually see first and in what order.

Forums are tricky becasue they have a different kind of navigation, readership and participation. Here are some ad placements suggested by Google which work best for forums

BEST GOOGLE ADSENSE LINK COLORS TO GET HIGHER CTR?

Match the colors of your ads with the colour scheme of your site. Blending with your sites color profile helps to identify them not as ads, but as links similar to those of your site. The more the AdSense looks like part of your site, the higher CTR you will get. You can also match the Adsense fonts with your website font design for great results.

Blend ads with your page – remove the borders by having a similar color as your background helps to show ads as being part of your site. Do not blend text or the ‘Ads by Gooooogle’ with your background color as it is against Google TOS (Google does not like hidden text!). However, such blending may not work for you always due to banner blindness. Neither do they see the ads, not do they click on them. So sometimes a bold contrasting ad may work better depending on your website design.

Experiment by changing the colors, background of advertisements. You have to find out what works best for your site, not others. You can also rotate Adsense colors to reduce ad blindness.

I hope these tips help to get your Adsense CTR up by at least 100% if not more. Good luck and make more money!

Make Money Online for Beginners

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:12:00 +0530

If you have a blog you are trying to make money from it may be a good idea to change the name to a real dotcom name if it is a blogspot name - it is not absolutely necessary of course.

[Updated 13 August 2007]

Last month (28th Feb) I thought it would be a good idea to change my blog's domain name from the name allocated by blogger to a 'proper' URL. The name allocated by blogger was - moneyfromdomains.blogspot.com - I decided to change it to - netmonetization.com -, which I thought would be easier to remember and given that I am learning about blog monetization might be better for the search engines.

I thought I had managed to change the name on 28th Feb. but it turns out all was not as it seemed. The address http://www.netmonetization.com was fine, it took you directly to this blog, but if you left out the www and just typed in http://netmonetization.com it took you to a godaddy parked page, which was of no use to me. Changing the DNS and re-directing it was more complicated than the blogger instructions made out.

I had followed the instructions given in the blogger help pages but there was extra stuff to do that they don't tell you ! Godaddy (the registrar for my domain name) were no help by the way.

The following are the step-by-step instructions of what needs to be done should you decide to change your blog's domain name and use your own URL.

Get yourself a domain name. I bought my domain name (netmonetization.com) from Godaddy - cost around $7. Tip 1 : when registering a domain name it is apparently better to register for 2 years or more as search engines rank your name higher if it is registered for more than one year. Tip 2 : if you use Godaddy you can type in the coupon code 'SPEED1' when it comes to paying - this should get you a 10% reduction off the price. If you use another registrar you can have a look here for coupon codes http://www.retailmenot.com/

(This is only for those of you using the new blogger.) Go to your blog then click on - customize - settings - publishing.

Click on 'Custom Domain'

Type your new domain name in the blank 'Your Domain' window - include the www and click on 'save settings'at the bottom of the page

Click on 'Setup instructions' (just underneath the window) in the middle of the page

Read the instructions and then click on the blue 'here' in paragraph 3

Click on 'godaddy.com' if your registrar is godaddy. If you used a different registrar then I'm afraid you're on your own from here on in. (Although some of the instructions may be similar).

Read the instructions and log in to your godaddy account.

Click on 'My Account', then on 'Manage Domains'

From the list of domain names displayed, click on the domain name you want to configure (i.e. the domain name that will be the domain name for your blog)

Click on 'Total DNS Control and MX Records'

In the list of CNAMES you need to delete the first one (the one with the www in the left-hand column) - you delete it by clicking on the cross in the right-hand column

After you have deleted the original CNAME - Click on 'Add new CNAME Record'

Where it says 'Enter an Alias name' type www

Where it says 'Points to host name' type ghs.google.com

Click 'OK'

(This is the bit they don't tell you and which caused my blog to be pointing to the wrong place half the time ! ) Click on 'Domains' in the top left-hand corner. (This should take you back to the page with your name and address and the details of the domain you are configuring). Click on 'Forwarding' (Alternatively you can go back to the page 'Manage Domains' mentioned above in Point 9 and click on 'Domain Forwarding' in the list on the left-hand side of the screen)

(You should now be on the 'Domain Forwarding' screen which has three tabs in the middle of the page - 'forwarding' 'masking and 'help'

Click on 'forwarding' then click on the 'enabled' radio button to enable it

In the window to the right of 'Forward to' type in the blog name previously used to access your blog e.g. http://www.xxxxxxxxx.com/ (do not type 'xxxxxxxxx', type the new domain name you registered :-)

Click on the 301 'moved permanently' radio button

Click on the 'masking' tag

Click in the 'Mask Domain' box (a tick should appear)

In the 'Masked Title' window, type the name of the domain as registered with godaddy e.g. xxxxxxxx.com i.e. your new domain name without the http and the www (while you are in this window you might like to add some keywords etc... in the two windows at the bottom of the screen)

Click 'OK' then click 'OK' on the next screen

You are finished - go and have a lie down.

After a few minutes/hours, depending on the Internet - check to see if it has worked by typing your blog domain name directly into the address bar - the problem I had when I did what the blogger instructions told me to do, but without carrying out the 'forwarding' instructions above - points 16 - 24 - was that if I typed in my domain as http://www.netmonetization.com/ then everything was fine, but if I left out the www and only typed in netmonetization.com then I was sent to a godaddy parking page. So you need to carry out a test with and without the www to make sure both addresses display your blog correctly.

One final point you don't need a web hosting service, you continue to host your domain with Google free of charge.

change domain name

change blogger domain name

register own domain

Make Money Online from Adsense

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:11:00 +0530

Making money from Adsense is probably the most widespread way of making money online - this is an old post but is probably still relevant.

***

If you ever wander over to the Google Adsense forum one of the questions that comes up time and time again is 'How can I get/increase my revenue using Adsense ?' And one of the most popular searches on Google is 'how can I make money online ?'

Well hopefully I can provide you with some useful information that will allow you to increase your revenue !

[Note : If you want to cut to the chase you can scroll down 7 paragraphs (I got carried away!) - but you will miss my valuable insights into the blogging business and assorted bloggeratis !]

I have noticed that there seem to be two camps when it comes to making money from blogs - camp 'A' where people make no or very little money despite trying hard and spending a lot of time and effort (a couple of dollars a day maximum) (I am in this camp in case you were wondering) and camp 'B' where people make thousands/hundreds of thousands/millions every day/week/month (delete as appropriate), names in this category which spring to mind are Darren Rowse (Problogger), John Chow, Steve Pavlina, TechCrunch ($150,000 a month apparently) and a variety of people over at forums like earnersforum. As a cynical beginner I am slightly sceptical about some of the claims, but I assume there must be some truth in them. I am just confused, like many people I guess, as to why there should be such a large discrepancy between the haves and the have nots. The people who seem to know what they are doing and who make money in their sleep by merely moving their Adsense ads. from one corner of their screen to the other and the rest who seem befuddled and clueless and who are constantly trying to wheedle the secrets out of the 'cognoscenti'. Of course if people think that you know something that they don't then they may be tempted to visit your site in a desperate search for the 'secret knowledge' thus creating a sort of pyramid selling or multi-level marketing effect, i.e. people visit the site to find out how to make money from websites/blogs and while they are there they click on a few ads. or sign up for some affiliate program, or buy a book or two, thus making money for the guy who is supposedly telling you how to make money, but is in fact telling you to go off and create a website just like his so that people will come along looking for your 'secret' and click on your ads.. For example I have had a good look around Problogger to see how he 'did it', but I very much doubt that he has been checking out what I've been getting up to! Problogger does of course have some useful information, as he has a camera review site, but I suspect most people to his sites are looking for information on how to monetize their own sites.

When you read the blogs of 'succesful' bloggers to find out how they do it, you end up with a vague idea that you need 'high quality content' (although to tell the truth I see precious little of it around) or you need to work your 'ad placement' or SEO optimization (directories, swarms, communities, you scratch my back I'll scratch yours) and of course you need to build your traffic by writing 'quality content' so that people feel obliged to come back to your blog again and again or link to it, because you 'give good content'.

It should be noted however that you must not write stuff just to get people on your blog so they will then click on the ads and make you some dosh for your efforts, no sirreee! There is among some bloggers an almost religious zeal about serving the community, doing good, providing useful/useless/inaccurate or downright dangerous information etc... At the same time you are also advised to 'blend' the ads into the site so that they are barely noticeable. Lol - you gotta smile sometimes. Then any money that you make is just reward for all your good work/karma or whatever.

I can't help feeling that there is something wrong, or possibly even ever so slightly hypocritical, with this model. People trying to make money from blogs can't stick up a big notice saying 'click on these ads. before you enter!', as clearly people would be so disgusted they would just hit the back button. Yet they are not averse to letting people know they are making a small fortune just by writing a couple of articles a day (how many journalists make the sort of money some bloggers apparently make?).

It would seem to me that if bloggers are making vast amounts of money, journalists would be better off quitting their day jobs and joining them. They would probably get a wider audience on the Internet and make more money at the same time for a lot less work.

I digress, but you get the picture. There is a well-known businessman in the UK called Alan Sugar. He started off as a market trader then created a company called Amstrad and made his fortune selling consumer electronics (PCs, printers, faxes, videophones etc...) One day he said he was sick and tired of hearing company executives claiming all they wanted to do was serve the public by providing them with 'quality products', as if they were in business to be philanthropists. Sugar said "Our motto at Amstrad is 'We want your money!'"

This I suspect is the motivation for the vast majority of bloggers who put ads. and affiliate links on their sites. They want your money. Not 'your' money literally, because usually it's some advertiser's money. But in the end it is your money, of course, because companies merely put up the prices of the goods to include their advertising costs. Providing useful information is of course 'useful', but the purpose of this information is to attract readers and thereby make money, like TV programs which are there not to entertain or inform the audience, but to attract as many people as possible to see the ads. that are paid for by their sponsors. On some sites you do sometimes find some 'useful' information but 'useless' information often seems to serve the same purpose. You merely have to re-define 'useless' as 'useful'.

So if you're reading this you presumably want to know how to increase your Adsense revenue. Well here is some 'useful' information I have come across which like I said at the beginning will hopefully help you increase your revenue. The guy I got it from says that within 2 days he increased his revenue 4-fold, from 40 cents a day to $1.60 a day. He actually said 400% but his maths ain't too good ! It's really only 300% but I'll let him off that one, as the increase is nevertheless impressive even if the amounts are pretty paltry (not poultry as I read on one blog! [Lord give me strength]).

So I for one am going to follow his advice and see if I can increase my $1 a month to $4 !

This is how it is done :-

Put an embedded 728×60 link unit just under the header image,

Put a 120×600 link unit in the sidebar (he didnt' say which sidebar, but it is generally accepted that the left-hand sidebar is better) and

Embed a 250×250 link unit in every post.

Make the colours match the blog itself (so that cunningly the ads. look like part of the content you have created [hehehe])

Then worry about getting the traffic in.

So I am off to do it and I will keep you, and me, posted as to the results (or not) thereof.

[EDIT : Well after much fiddling I have managed to do it, almost. The 728 x 60 no longer seems to exist so I chose 468 x 60, the link unit in the sidebar was OK. The difficult part was getting the 250 x 250 in the body of the post automatically (without having to put it in manually for each and every posting), at the bottom of the post. Fortunately I found a post explaining how it can be done for the new blogger, congratulations to the guy who worked it out, I will be putting up another post later today or tomorrow with acknowledgement to him and also explaining how it is done and how I tweaked it a bit further. I may also try and tweak it a bit further still to see if I can move the ad. to a different spot in the body so check back later (it's 14:00 UK time on Saturday 24 March 2007 at the moment - EDIT : Check out my post 'How to Incorporate Adsense Ads. directly into your Text']

How to Make Money Online - Michael Arrington Makes $150,000 a month from Techcrunc

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:10:00 +0530

You want to know how to make money online then take a look at Techcrunch - $150,000 a month (2007) is serious money from a blog ! But apparently that's what Michael Arrington makes with TechCrunch blog. Mr Arrington created TechCrunch in June 2005 and it has been so successful he now has five full-time writers and five part-timers. He used to be a corporate lawyer (until he saw the light !) specializing in venture capital start-ups and makes use of his connections to write his blog, but even so $150,000 a month from advertising revenue is a lot of advertising and a lot of clicks on those pesky little ads.! http://www.businessinnovation.cmp.com/articles/strat_061215pg2.jhtml

He says “I don’t cover news unless it’s interesting. I write stories companies don’t want me to write”. He also operates on rumor and insider information, which may be illegal in stocktrading, but not here . He also says the secret is to write passionately about something you love. So now you know, except I suspect there's other stuff he ain't letting on about too.

According to other bloggers his success is based on the fact that he found a niche and exploited it; he gets stories first; his blog actually contains some useful information; his opinions are worth paying attention to; he negotiates special advertising deals (so he's not getting all his money from Adsense or putting all his eggs in one basket - and as a lawyer he is no doubt an expert in negotiating good deals); he has contacts within the industry; his blog has a brand (although it didn't when he started out a year ago). He used to post 3 times a day - but not anymore, as stated above he has people posting for him.

There are apparently other bloggers who make similar amounts - Problogger could be one and Gigaom another (allegedly).

Other factors which may contribute to the success of TechCrunch, Mr Arrington has lots of other businesses on the go and is on the Board of Directors of a number of companies. In addition TechCrunch :

was featured in a front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle

the Financial Times wrote about it in December, 2006.

Michael Arrington was named a 'Web Celeb' by Forbes on January 24, 2007.

he was also named one of the 50 Most Important People on the Web by PCWorld in March 2007.

I have looked at his blogs. They are well put together and certainly look more like websites than blogs but I see nothing so compelling on them that would bring in $150,000 in advertising from people clicking on stuff !, but WTFDIK, I could say the same about many other blogs too. One blogger says he gets 2 million visitors a month, his blog is certainly interesting but even so the numbers are surprising to say the least. I guess the blogosphere is a 'really big place'!

So the way to do it seems to be have something you're passionate about, write about it, make the content interesting (how many times have I read that before!), it also helps if you have a few contacts that can get you information before anyone else has it, and people will be unable to resist, they will simply flock to your site to find out what all the fuss is about !

Make Money Online for Beginners

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:09:00 +0530

Statistics are important if you are trying to make money online. You need to know who is visiting your blog and why. Clicky shows you in real time who is looking at your blog.

Clicky is now out of beta since 13 March. It may sound like a strange marsupial that clicks out its messages to warn its human friends of danger, but it's actually a cool new analytics tool that lets you know everything you've always wanted to know about those mysterious silent beings who visit your website or blog. Up until now I've been using dear old Google analytics, but I found the experience strangely unsatisfying. Clicky on the other hand is a breath of fresh air! Whereas Google seem to go out of their way to couch their tools in jargon and to make their programs as confusing as possible, the folks at Clicky have obviously realized that most people just want everything to work and to be simple to understand!

Innovative features include RSS (Clicky are justifiably proud of the fact that they are the only analyzer on the planet that gives you web stats via RSS).

and Spy, it can also distinguish between regular Google search traffic and Google Blog search traffic and has several more features in the pipeline. For me though the best aspect was that I could actually understand what I was looking at !

Another good thing about it, which we can all appreciate, is that it's free if you have less than 1,000 page views a day, which means most of us. If you're rich or you have more than 1,000 page views on average or you just like spending money, fear not they also have a premium service. The whole installation is simplicity itself. I managed it in around 2 minutes and I'm no genius!

Steve Rubel over at Micropersuasion has just installed it, so we are in good company. If you want to give it a go, clicky here Clicky Analytics

Make Money Online Blogging

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:08:00 +0530

Here's something you might like to know if you are trying to make money online using Adsense, if you are interested in making money online, especially if you're new to it (like me). Rule No. 1 : Don't shoot yourself in the foot! I have a number of blogs - this one, one on the stockmarket, one on meditation, and until recently one on technology news.

I have Adsense ads on them (you may have noticed them down the side or up on top somewhere) that are supposed to bring in some dough (doh !). The ads are also supposed to be relevant to what the blog is about. However, on my technology site I noticed that all I was getting were Public Service Ads, which may be very useful to someone but were not what I expected.

I tried re-configuring the site, playing about with the layout and the template etc... etc... and got nowhere. I even wrote to Google (yes I was that desperate!) - they sent back their computer-generated response of course (as they all do - Ebay are masters at it) which told me nothing, or rather told me so much as to be totally useless, as it gave me no clue as to what was going on with the ads.

Then I had a moment of insight! Eureka! I remembered that one of my posts was about a company that generates electricity from the stuff that comes out of the rear end of pigs (very successfully too), and that in the post I had not used the word 'manure' or some other scientific term, I had instead gone for the more colourful 's' word :-) (silly me). I realized in my moment of insight that Google possibly doesn't like profanities, or any other unpleasant or vice-related vocabulary and that my blog had been classified by Google's spiders as 'unsuitable' for its ads ! The solution I decided upon was to abandon the blog and create a new one.

It turns out, however, that this was probably a bit of overkill, but as a newbie of course I didn't know this at the time. Apparently this is a common problem with Google's Adsense site rating system and the way round it is to use 'section targeting' . Briefly put "Section targeting allows you to suggest sections of your text and HTML content that you would like Google to emphasize or downplay when matching ads to your site's content"

The main use as far as I was concerned would have been to highlight the offending 's' word and tell Google to ignore it which you do by putting :-

google_ad_section_start(weight=ignore)

into your HTML code, check out the full details over at Google help (see below).

Other people have had similar problems. For example if you put the word orange somewhere in your post, you are liable to get all sorts of ads for mobile phones. There are better examples but I don't want to mention them here for fear of getting on the bad side of Google's spiders again.

You can find a whole load of information (more than you want probably!) over at Google itself, in Google Adsense help do a search on 'Section Targeting'.

So maybe I'll revive my ex-blog and play around with their section targeting to see what pops up! So if you've been getting the Public Service Ads and don't know why, it might be something in your text, which you need to instruct Google to ignore. :-)

A day b4 sessional...

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:18:00 +0530

Tommorow's my sessional,2nd sessional of this sem,11th sessional of my btech course.Anyways back 2 square one-tonite.I've got Maths-4 and Electrical Machines 2morw and as usual i m still unaware of most terms used in d book.Still I opened it now-electrical Machines....2nd chapter,DC motor.As a matter of habit I first counted d pages,den selected wat seemed 2 me wud take least time and fetch max marks.So i started wid d motor principle.
(Rewind:scene:exam hall,sessional 1,EM ques Paper:TZP popped into my mind....letters r dancing.....wat r all this things....generator-the only thing i know is de r a nuisance cos wenever crt.is gone and v get happy dat atleast now v wud b saved of doing experiments in electronics lab....these stupid generators r switched on and our dreams of gossiping 4 3 hrs gets shattered.but i promise i'll read 4 next internal 4 sure)
I don't know generator(its not in d portion dis time..will see it at d time of semester-concentrate on present needs),so motor principle:

"It converts electrical 2 mechanical energy"
(wow so simple! water pump).

"Its action is based on d principle that when a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field it experiences a mechanical force whose direction is given by Fleming's left hand rule."
(Well I'm just unable to remind myself what was it that Fleming gave...still continuing...).

"Constructionally, there's no basic difference between a d.c.generator and a d.c. motor"
(ab I've not gone through d.c generator yaar).

"In fact,d same d.c. machine can b used interchangeably as a generator or a motor"
(but which machine!)

"D.C.Motors are also like generators"(not again...please),shunt-wound or series-wound or compound wound."

"It should b noted dat d function of commutator is same as in generator"
(4 god damn's sake,i wanna read motor not generator)..............

sorry it's just too much..I've gone through one whole page and in every alternate line d word generator pops up...which means i've to read generator b4 reading motr...which seriously i'm not going to do now.....so it's just an internal yaar.comeon chill maar....sem ke waqt padh lenge.

Saga of my sessionals!

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:18:00 +0530

Act 1:-
Beginning of semester
Scene:-1st day of semester,
Before going to college
(I got up a bit early,took a little extra effort in dressing up,waterbottle,new copies,pens everything arranged)

There's still a few min left 4 the bus to come
Resolutions(I swear I'll keep them this time)
1.I'll go to college everyday i.e. not bunk classes.
2.I won't sleep in classroom till tiffin bell(I usually get up after that)
3.Take notes regularly(6 copies for 6 subjects not 6 in one)
4.read from the very beginning of sem (not end this time)
5.Get good marks in sessionals as well as sem(come on Nish! You can do it!)
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and it goes on - a few ideal ones.

Act 2:-
Before 1st sessional
Scene:- 10 p.m. , sessionals tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Count hours.Oh! more than 12 hrs left.Nothing to worry.Opens books,no notes.All ìn one
Letters dancing,unable to understand anything.
To God:-
Please God ,OK this last time.I swear I'll do well in next internal/sessional.Ok sorry now.
To myself :-
What has happened , this is the 1st sessional.It's fine.There are two more to go.I'll surely do well next time.Now I can't do all this in one day.But I promise,right after this sessional I'm going two work hard.

At 12 p.m.(Oh! there's so much.Well,I need a sleep.I'll get up tomorrow at 4 a.m. & complete.)
Books closed!
Lights off !

Next day:-
Oh ! my God , Its 10:15 , that idiot of my di,didn't wake me.Well,bus will come at 10:30.
Now this mobile, Alarm too didn't go.I'll kill di,I had told her to wake me up.
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|`
And then u know

Act 3 :-
Before 2nd sessional
I should have learnt but then you know I was so busy(doing what God knows).Anyways , there's still time.

After turning a few pages
Can't do it yaar.(Now, no need to sulk Nish! It's just a sessional after all ).And its best of two,I'll do next time really.Just this one time God.

Act 4 :-
Before 3rd(final) sessional
You know what di,our college closes after the 3rd sessional,means really its officially closed.So you know the papers of 3rd sessional are not going to be checked.
Arey! I know for sure,
You see, there's no one of us who'll go & check the marks.So why should the teachers check.They'll put some marks and send.Now, that's if its not going to be checked then why should I read.And you know me, I don't get satisfied reading tid-bits ,formulae.I've got to know my subject and that needs time which I don't have.So I'll just start from the beginning (but after sessional)and do well(once and for all) in this semester.Ok.
So no need of wasting time now.Chal I am feeling a bit sleepy.
Good night di ............................

Apna Bollywood!

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:18:00 +0530

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai definitely.We are 'Indian' by heart n soul. And so, chahe koi kuch bhi kahe,apnaBollywood'll always reign , even though we (an elite class which watches hollywood movies as well!) know dat they(apna bollywood) have got less substance (than their counterparts) and more of masala,over-dramatic tantrums and pretty exaggerated emotions,not to mention those who-gives-a-hell-bout-lyrics tracks. But even with all these vices they manage to emerge out victorious!

You know what, it's cos there is something (don't ask me wat 'cos i'm a victim too!), something that is wonder,beauty and magic blended together, add a few humorous dialogues, few emotional scenes (which would make us cry) and lo and behold bollywood reigns!

Maybe 'cos India is the land of spices so quite naturally our movies will have spices in somewhat regular quantities.And moreover we grew up watching these stuffs, identifying ourselves with those next-to-impossible romantic scenes. I watched movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun before I started reading Mills n Boons, so even though I love ball dances, candle light dinners, still there's a different magic in our very own sarson ke khets, white salwars, sea beaches.You remember the way Madhavan treats Dia Mirza in RHTDM, with paanipuri,taking her on cycle-very much Indian huh! And ya how can I forget that it was Bollywood who first put this notion into our head that rain is romantic (obviously our parents didn't teach us that!).

Sometimes I wonder whether these things taught us to dream or our dreams were portrayed in movies.It works both way round. So thats it, I love bollywood.
Oops! there are things one just can't leave........

Music vs Lyrics

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:17:00 +0530

Really there shoudn't be (vs) here 'cos both are sort of complement of each other.I've always had quite a penchant for lyrics, I'm a bit partial towards it but den I love good soft instrumentals too which creates an environ of peace,soothing....yeah.
I came upon dis dialogue by chance and it depicts d difference nicely.wanted to share it wid ya all.so here it goes:

"A melody is like seeing someone for the first time.The physical attraction.Sex.
But then,as you get to know the person, that's the lyrics.Their story.Who they are underneath.
Its the combination of the two that makes it magic."

Dialogues from 'Music and Lyrics' starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

HUM vs TUM

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:16:00 +0530

Well, another issue has come up!
So,d thing is I've observed a thing and I'd cite it here just for the mere fun of it.

A pretty common phenomenon(here at least in bbsr)!

The moment I sit in an auto,I look into my bag for change,count the exact amount and have it ready so that I can hand it over d moment my stoppage comes and will get out.In fact most(if not all) of my species(female) do the same.We r always ready wid the change.

PRE-SCRIPTUM:This one is getting back at you cos you wrote how we take money outta ATM in steps!

Now take d case of guys:
Step 1-They sit in the auto (ekdum maharaja style!).
When their stoppage comes-
Step 2-Get out of auto.
Step 3-Take out their wallet(from their jeans pocket wid some difficulty!)
Step 4-Look for change in the small pocket of it.
Step 5-Oops no change!Hand a higher denomination(usually 50 or 100 for Rs. 6)
Step 6-Pocket the change and go.

And in the meanwhile if we r near a traffic the traffic has already stopped so we again have to wait for our turn!

So, just imagine u wud spare ur(not so precious),our and the auto driver's precious time if u cud just look into ur pocket and b ready wid the change! So,do a favour on us pls.......

NB-The reason I wrote dis today is, I missed my train today 'cos of such incident!!!

***********************************************************************************
Guy's point of view(as my bro reasoned)

There's some amount of difficulty involved in taking out money from their jeans pocket and obviously in auto where even the slightest movement of their hands will get them a glare or else a word or two from d gal sitting beside.

And the other thing is they don't have the slightest idea dat 'cos of dem someone's getting late or the traffic signal changes(It's cos de've never been delayed 'cos u know........we've change ready always!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

*************************************************************************************

I got a pretty interesting comment for this:

abhinav said:

Once there was loving couple traveling in a bus in a mountainous area.
They decided to get down at some place. After the couple got down at
some place the bus moved on. As the bus moved on, a huge rock fell on
the
bus from the mountain and crushed the bus to crumbs. Everybody on board
was killed. The couple upon seeing that, said, “We wish we were on that
bus” Why do u think they said that?

it’s not a stupid answer ——– purely logical

.

.

.

.

.

Come on think again……

.

.

.

Come on try hard…..

.

.

.

.

.
If they had remained on the bus instead of deciding to get down, the
resulting time delay could have been avoided and the rock would have
fallen after the bus had passed…!!! Think positive in life always and
look for opportunities when u can help others.

keep lots of change in handy to help out the guys..
moreover, it might be that all the change in ur locality gets arrued in ur jholas oops purses.

Penned by a pen!

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:16:00 +0530

I' m not a calculating or close-fisted person by nature.But knowingly or unknowingly I'm just accustomed to practise certain habits which proove otherwise.

Like d other day while in class my friend's ballpoint (of pen) came off.
Now it was a Cello Gripper pen and I'll tell u one thing-Cello Gripper is to us as Reynolds was to our earlier generation. My father,mother,uncles-I've seen all of them using just one-Reynolds.They used the brand as if it was quality.

I 'member my earlier years when we had just started writing in pen.Oh! what a thrill it was then.Finally after some 6 years(till 5th class) of writing unceremoniously in those black graphites,we were allowed to use pen.Yes,back then it was an eager anticipation, another-reason-to-revel-in the glory of being able to write in a pen.From looking down upon our younger siblings who still used a pencil to showing off to friends-who had a better pen.It was all too much ado over a pen.Owning a Reynolds Jetter was 'something' - back then.Well, but then Reynolds itself was quality.My parents got me a Reynolds 045 and I was to write in that for almost 2-3 years(it was boring!).Though for Birthdays we used to get different varieties(sometimes gel pens!).I had the rare luck to get a Jetter too and I had preserved it as if it was an asset-but then it was!

With the passage of time I changed many pens as I penned many changes.Nothing used to appeal me for a long time means I used to change them frequently-some were just too thick (ball points), some were just too thin,some inks were too light & others too dark.So, I just didn't have any specific pen, like my uncle used to say "my pen", to the Jetter.There wasn't a simple brand that I could say was mine.

And then I stumbled upon cello gripper.Back then (in 9th/10th) it had started gaining popularity and I used it and it seemed all right.Though it took a while to win my heart.It was just right-means the 0.5 tip and the ink - ya,it was sort of perfect.The only thing was it looked pretty common but then it came in a humble price of Rs 7.00 wid its reefil just for Rs 3.00(now it's four!).So it stayed wid me ever since.I've used it for long and somehow I know how it feels to finally have a pen - 'my pen' - I'm comfortable wid it and a good feeling that it sort of understands me.

Well it was then and this is now.Almost 60% of my classmates use it and it is ya its a remarkable feat.It has proved its mettle and taken over Reynolds I can say.Also,it is pretty affordable.
But then there's one thing-its ball point.With those who are careless like me-its ball points comes off-a bit more easily.Though now I've got into a practice and it seldom comes off but still,for first time users or maybe just 'cos its pointed,it comes off.I used to face the problem when i had started using it and since then i always replaced the nib by another old one.I always used to keep in stock,the old,used refills just to use its nib if ever it broke.

I never knew what a ball in a pen was,I always thought it was the entire nib and then one day at tuition,when I'd said I had another ball,someone suddenly asked, 'How come you 've a ball ! ' and it was then that they showed me the tip was a ball.Perhaps,someone had guessed that I had not yet understood the concept fully,so the next day,there was an exhibit waiting for me.In a small piece of wax there was a tiny spherical object,very small,and that was the ball(ball of a pen).

So, just like that I've always had old refills in my bag and that day when my friend's ball came off and he was suddenly about to throw the refill,I told him ,I've a ball to replace it and sort of it proved by shrewdness but then it was just an old habit which has fortunately lived up ahead of its time.So I still take the ball(or nib!) with my teeth(Now-a-days I've learnt not to take the ink in my mouth!) and then very easily replace it.Well,such shrewdness...............hmmm!

Mere human tendency?

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:15:00 +0530

Many of us have heard of "The Rime of Ancient Mariner" by S.T.Coleridge.
Anyways one question that arises is,why did the sailor kill the albatross?
The answer which I was given-mere human tendency.The reason for killing the albatross was mere human tendency.He killed just 'coz at the moment he felt like killing or something similar to that.So,is killing a mere human tendency?A trait we 've inherited from our ancestors for whom huntlng was a source of livelihood.So,do we everytime have a reason,a reason sufficient enough to kill?

I remember an old story in my hindi book.It was called "Apna Apna Swabhav" or ''one's own nature''. Well,in that there was a saint who was bathing in river and a scorpion was floating away or drowning away.Now the saint took him in hand and started crossing the river.Now the moment the saint picked it up,the scorpion bit him.He dropped him and again held out his hand trying to save him.Again the scorpion bit him.And again the saint helped it.Thus it was after 4 stings that somehow they reached the bank and an observer asked him, "Why did u save the scorpion even though it continuously striked u?" To this the saint replied,"Apna Apna Swabhav" or 'coz its our own nature."The scorpion's nature was to bite and a human's nature is to save.So we both went by our own nature."

Both the stories contrasted each other and somehow being taught both I was confused as to what was or what should be human nature.

Today a cockroach peeped through the hole in bathroom and for a moment i hesitated on whether I should flush water & kill it.
But,just after a moment's hesitation I flushed water killing it and I wondered afterwards-why did i kill?
An ant's passing in our way.Take it in hand and crush it.Again why?Just like dat.But then we aren't killers(I don't think I am!).I took a stray pup as pet.I feed the birds in the morning .So then what exactly is human tendency?May be its both.Just like in Michaelangelo's carving in Sistine Chapel where the same kid who was sculpted for baby Jesus sat down while the artist carved Judas out of him.We 've both in us-the same human kills and the same human saves.

Well, mere human tendency!!!!!!!!!

no mor(e)teen

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:14:00 +0530

24th aug' 07

This birthday put an end to my "teen-age".So now I've stepped onto the(much awaiting,was it???) adult world - completely.My left foot's no more holding to the last vestige of childhood.And as I entered into this world I couldn't help reminisce the poem by Margaret Lawrence,"Am I a child or an adult?"

Am I a child or an adult ?
No ! Not a child now - my dolls are gone;
My dream world has rippled away.
I am tall, I understand adult talk,
But does that mean that I am an adult ?

Am I an adult or a child ?
No ! Not an adult – I couldn’t look after myself;
The understanding is just not there.
I pay a half fare on a bus to school,
But does that mean that I am a child ?

Am I a child or an adult ?
No ! Not a child now - it’s not a teddy I love;
His cherished position is taken.
Just because my toys have lost their value,
Does that mean that I am an adult?

Am I an adult or a child ?
No ! Not an adult - I do not see
The reasons for adult disputes;
I am safe in non- understanding.
But does that mean that I am a child?

Well, am I a child or an adult ?
No ! Not one or the other now;
One pace in front of childhood,
And one behind an adult.
Soon I shall stride into a new world,
The world of adult life.

Well,I'm no more in a confusion ,Miss Lawrence and sadly I'm wondering if I should ever have come out of that confusion.
na...I was pretty safe in non-understanding.

Back then,when I was in school,there was too much hype about teen-age.We were having all these counseling sessions and there was this fear(amongst teachers and parents!) of how to get us through that crucial adolescent stage.Though now I wonder, I never had any problem,in fact, I was waiting with a tinge of anticipation for whatever mysteries this - neither black nor white but not widout its fair share of grey(as we were told back then) - age was going to unfold.
I was dissapointed :(

It didn't even knock and exited as silently as it had entered.

And now what should I do - mourn for its passing away?

No...it doesn't deserve anything bleak but then what can I name it?

I'll tell you how I feel(though it sounds crap even to my own ears!).I feel like Arjuna completing my gurukul (I've not yet but I ain't getting any suitable word) and stepping into the world armed with my bow and quiver full of arrows thinking I could win this world.
I'm in a state of bliss...ignorant,unaware of the ordeals life has set for me.
There's an apprehension though ,and a faint hope that I may be saved ,that I may not be bound to trod into the kurukshetra. Comeon there is enough to do without that!
At least I don't wanna face my near and dear ones with arms.
But deep down a voice reminds-Isn't that supposed to be your karmabhumi(now where did this come from?)It spake thus,"You can try but u can't evade it."

And I cry....Help me out God.Ya ya I know I shouldn't be asking him....he'll help only himself.....history'll repeat...Krishna never helped Arjuna out.Nay...he didn't.

Leave it,I'll survive somehow.

Anyways the word "safe in non-understanding" has remained with me all these years.Though I wouldn't say I didn't love the growing up part.I learnt a lot and slowly through all these years(mostly the last three years) everything opened up with a much more clarity.Finally the sun was making its way through the fog and I was being embraced by a warmth-an understanding of and about so many things.

Suddenly I looked at at the world with a little less hate,a little more forgiveness...a little less anger,a little more patience...a little less mouth(ing),a little more ear(s)...maybe a little less love but loads n loads of understanding....

I stooped down a bit lower from superlative to comparative and in some cases positive degree.There weren't many bests and ya.. neither worsts but something good and many things better.I found many answers though they were not all perfect.No doubt many more questions arose...questions which were no more simple...and so I'd to optimize the solutions.I learned acceptance,I learned to adapt and blah blah blah....

And so ends another phase of my life.

Devil's Advocate

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:13:00 +0530

I saw this movie today,'The devil's advocate'.It had an excellent starcast(Al Pacino,
Keanu Reaves and Charlize Theron) and a more excellent script.

These were dialogues between devil and kevin(my favourite!)

************************************
God?

I'll tell you...

...let me give you
a little inside information about God.

God likes to watch.

He's a prankster.

Think about it.

He gives man...

...instincts.

He gives you this extraordinary gift,
and then what does He do?

I swear, for his own amusement...

...his own private, cosmic...

...gag reel...

...He sets the rules in opposition.

It's the goof of all time.

Look, but don't touch.

Touch, but don't taste.

Taste, but don't swallow.

And while you're jumping from one foot
to the next, what is He doing?

He's laughing his sick, fucking ass off!

He's a tightass!

He's a sadist!

He's an absentee landlord!

Worship that? Never.

******************************************

Watch out for these!!!

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:12:00 +0530

Movies(bollywood!) go by starcast rather than a good script as is seen lately.But somehow a movie with a good script will always find a chord.It may not be a hit but it does affect us.And ya we...here in bollywood....we make good movies (the number is less ) too.Not just song and dance and drama stuff but the real thing.
There are movies lesser known but those which mark their presence neverthelessly.I've not seen many of them ('cos its difficult to get hold of a copy!) but these few were really good.They aren't in any specific order as I remembered maybe.And I'm no critic.

To start with Deepa Mehta's trilogy Fire, Earth and Water - three movies each one as moving and as sparkling as how to use the medium of motion picture to reveal.Excellent movies,minute details taken into account.They possess that ability to move you.My personal favorite is Earth, just remembering it gives me shivers even today.It had a superb direction,actors couldn't have done more justice to the roles and rehmaan's music was additional touch.Water was no less, subtly shown which is in accordance with its title and yet evokes a cry.The best thing in both the movies was perhaps the point of view.Earth was told through the eyes of Lenny- an eight-year-old parsee girl.Similarly water had chuhiya- a seven-year-old child widow.Maybe as it was narrated through children....the facts were like they should....unadulterated....left for us to decide.There were moments of warmth as well well as chill.Definitely worth watching.

Aparna Sen's Mr and Mrs Iyer(won the national award) and 15 Park Avenue.I'm yet to see movies by this director.I've watched two and I loved them.Watch them if u've not.

Raincoat, Chokher Bali, The Last Lear ,all directed by Rituparno Ghosh were worth watching .Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore,was portrayed quite effectively(but then I love Aishwarya!)....we find glimpses of poetry in many scenes.Raincoat was better of the two,feel film critics...but then I'm not a judge...I loved both.I'd read 'gift of maggi' , from which Raincoat was inspired and it was a good movie.Aish again and Ajay Devgan played the roles brilliantly and I fell in love with the songs by Shubha Mudgal.The more recent one,The Last Lear was yet another example that the directors weaves magic.Amitabh Bachchan,Preity Zinta,Shefali Shetty,Arjun Rampal...well....another good movie.

Monsoon Wedding, by Mira Nair.I've seen just one Mira Nair's and it was pretty good.Various issues taken into account.A good direction with a superb acting.

Anurag Kashyap is definitely worth watching out for.DevD with its so hatke script.loved it.And then there was Gulaal.Look out for Piyush Mishra's songs.Excellent screenplay.different form normal.

Other than these there were several other mainstream movies.Madhur Bhandarkar's
Chandni Bar, Satta, Page 3, Corporate were good eye-openers.

Welcome to Sajjanpur, Oye Lucky lucky oye were two very good watchable satires.

I also liked Rajkumar Santoshi's Damini and Lajja-pretty strong feministic movies.

Mitr-my friend(by Revathi),Astitva(Mahesh Manjrekar),Jaago(Mehul Kumaar),
Parzania (Rahul Dholakia),Being Cyrus were quite appealing.

I'll keep updating if I manage to watch more or remember any other.keep watching :)

Insomniac

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:08:00 +0530

I'm not a tad confused..I'm in a terrible state-one of utter confusion and chaos.
Suffering from insomnia from the last three days.I'm telling you...'tis a worst state...lights switched off...everyone around you sleeping peacefully....but not you....turning sides...imagining every possible thing to lull u to sleep....but,na...it wont come....time flows by....u suddenly hear the chirping birds....temple's bells....sweepers brooms swaying over roads in gentle sweeps.....and all this time u r praying desperately,waiting for sleep to come.Sleep meanwhile is amusing itself watching u twitch and twirl but it won't give in .... not till the wee hours of morning.

Lying there surrounded with darkness I can't elude from myself.It is as if someone's waiting and it attacks you brutally.Your mistakes confront you with a furor.And what can you do with it....you are helpless....you no longer try to evade the truth,your defences fall,ur excuses exhausted,and in dat darkness u take it all as it comes..... when you are bound to be answerable - - to ur own self.

But does accepting your guilt makes it any less.The loss it has caused...the past which is gone...the deed which is done...the words already said...wheels set in motion.The only thing left is the outcome,the result whatever it is-if it's to your liking or not.You don't have a choice here.

I make plans.On what I should do and I promise myself I'll do it.execute them this time...no more mistakes....

sleep comes...

dawn's past...

it's noon....

it's day.My defences have raised.I've got all my excuses in line.
And I continue with my life.

I say to myself,"I'm a human and to err is human"
Yet another excuse!

Hopeless case,can't help.

cribbings......part 1

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:07:00 +0530

Di's reading all these blogs these days and I can't help take a peep now and then.And it's as if the whole world's blogging and even though I hate to admit it, they are pretty good, in fact better in a lot more ways.Enough trying with words...Everyone's writing better than me...there I said it and it doesn't at all feel good.To di,I give excuses.Excuses that vary from,"They are all older to me(even a few months wud do!!)" to "Instis change you and I'm not in the league of those from elite iits,nits or iims" and blah blah blah.This and that.But you know what the truth is - I'm plain jealous.

There's more to it.The acknowledgment of the fact that they did it and I didn't.I didn't lack either in opportunities or means.I don't have any excuses.I had my chance and I screwed it.Thats it.I defend myself to others ...sometimes to myself...but deep within I know the truth and yet there ain't much regret.Don't know why.

I remember when I'd first read Tagore's Lipika, I knew I would never make a writer ... not unless I could write like that and I wasn't sad.The world won't miss me.I stopped scribbling for a while but then I went back to it again.Sometimes just to vent my anger when I can't take it out on anyone.Sometimes just to pass time.Sometimes so that the thought wont go away.Sometimes 'cos I want to lock that feeling in paper so that I could relive it.I've my reasons to write.... mayb just for you to read!.....watever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I'd continue with my ramblings,with my limited non-pursuer-of-mba/gre vocab.Bear with me if u want to.

money minded

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:07:00 +0530

Happiness. Whatever we do, however we do, if we generalize it, the end result is happiness.What we all want is happiness.
'Happiness is a state of mind'-is something I've come across many times.Agreed.
For me, the movie "The pursuit of happyness" has stayed ever since.That its a pursuit of happiness and we can't give up the pursuit.It's what keeps us going.
That apart what I'm going to write about is money and happiness.They say money can't buy happiness.I disagree.Maybe...it won't buy us happiness as in state of mind, neverthelessly it does gives us the means of achieving them.And so I'm not at all shrewd if I want a lucrative career.Sometimes I think its so unlike me, but I've begun to understand things.The way society functions and that money is an intrinsic part of it.My parents had always taught me that in a family harmony and peace matters-directly quoting- 'even if we have salt and onions to eat'.Maybe but then we can eat and dress well and yet live in harmony.
So I'm not at all wrong if I want all the things money can buy.I wanna go see the world, get a home theatre, buy any book(without thinking how it'd effect the month's budget) or any movie I want to, eat wherever I want to.Take my parents on a world tour...all the things they missed because 'we' were there.Take my grandparents on a flight.....ah....the list goes on...and all of it needs money and when I'd have it I'd be happy.Maybe it won't last more than a moment but if money can buy me that one moment than so be it.
I join the crusade Miss Rand.

I can't defend it better than Ayn Rand nor describe it. so in her own words:
excerpt from Atlas Shrugged(read here) :

Answer to someone's question...

prabhatkumar0010@gmail.com (prabhat kumar ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:06:00 +0530

As in feet,as in hand,Little Indians got buried in sand.Unique number's missing,Third even & third odd went searching.Three occurs twice,Six at a price of thrice.Rest seven are present,Though sum total's absent.
So,guessed all ur numbers,right?Sway further holding them tight.'cos it's not yet over,Till u put them in an order.
Holds first and one but last,A cat has this many lives to pass.Four's & five's are consecutivesSo are eight's and nine's,Joined for about twenty livesAre five's and eight's-the Siamese twins!
Reverse 2nd odd and 2nd evenPut them now just before seven.Append with a null,Hope it wasn't so dull.
Take all ur time,as i took mine,failing though,'in my search for rhyme.